Tbilisi Voices Readiness to Hold Talks with Sokhumi
Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said on November 30 that the Georgian side is ready to resume talks with the Abkhaz side ?without any preconditions.?
Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said on November 29 that at this stage Sokhumi will hold negotiations with Tbilisi only over the withdrawal of Georgian troops from Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia.
?We are ready for a dialogue without any preconditions. Kodori is a Georgian territory, the legitimate authorities will continue to operate there and a police force will remain there to provide security,? Bezhuashvili said.
Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Levan Nikoleishvili denied on November 30 the presence of Georgian Defense Ministry troops in upper Kodori Gorge, saying that only police units are deployed there.
A joint patrol of UN observers and Russian peacekeepers carried out monitoring of the area in October and found 550 personnel from the Georgian Interior Ministry.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement bans the Georgian side from deploying Defense Ministry troops in upper Kodori Gorge.
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